Brilliant Mariner 2017 Has Kicked Off In France

A part of the NATO fleet gathering in Toulon for Brilliant Mariner 2017. Refer the numbers to the list below for identification. Photo: French Armed Forces.

A large fleet of warships gathered in French town Toulon this week. The ships are part of NATO Maritime Command’s both Standing NATO Maritime Groups (SNMG) and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG-2). In addition to the four NATO task forces, France and Spain have sent additional ships for the exercise.

France will take command of the maritime component of the Nato Response Force (NRF) from 1 January 2018, for a period of one year. This exercise will create a suitable training for the French
Rapid Response Force Headquarter as well as the participating units.

According to French Armed Forces Brilliant Mariner 2017, will take place from 29 September to 13 October 2017 in the Mediterranean Sea with the participation of 3500 sailors and thirty of units and numerous aircraft from 3 nations

Below is the list of the ships taking part in the exercise. For the names of the ships of the photo above please refer to the last column.

Number

Name

Type

Nation

Fleet

Number In the Photo

H-88

HMS Enterprise

Support ship

UK

SNMCMG2

17

M-261

TCG Edremit

Mine hunter

Turkey

SNMCMG2

18

M-5558

ITS Crotone

Mine hunter

Italy

SNMCMG2

8

339

HMCS Charlottetown

Frigate

Canada

SNMG1

1

A-1443

FGS Rhoen

Support ship

Germany

SNMG1

F-312

HNoMS Otto Sverdrup

Frigate

Norway

SNMG1

7

F-334

NRP Francisco De Almedia

Frigate

Portugal

SNMG1

10

F-363

HDMS Niels Juel

Frigate

Denmark

SNMG1

2

F-805

HNLMS Eversten

Frigate

Netherlands

SNMG1

3

F-83

ESPS Numancia

Frigate

Spain

SNMG1

14

L-17

HDMS Esbern Snare

Support ship

Denmark

SNMG1

D-34

HMS Diamond

Destroyer

UK

SNMG2

4

F-103

ESPS Blas de Lezo

Frigate

Spain

SNMG2

5

F-244

TCG Barbaros

Frigate

Turkey

SNMG2

9

F-451

HS Limnos

Frigate

Greece

SNMG2

12

F-710

FS La Fayette

Frigate

France

SNMG2

15

A-608

FS Var

Support ship

France

D-621

Chevalier De Paul

Destroyer

France

6

D-643

FS Jean De Vienne

Destroyer

France

D-653

FS Languedoc

Destroyer

France

F-714

FS Guépratte

Frigate

France

16

L-61

ESPS Juan Carlos 1

LHD

Spain

11

L-9013

FS Mistral

LHD

France

13

M-645

FS Orion

Mine hunter

France

M-648

FS Lyre

Mine hunter

France

Any additions and corrections are most welcome.

UPDATE: I have removed SNMCMG-1 as it is taking part in another NATO exercise.